Ford's 'Tin Goose'

The Tri-Motor was a key player in America's nascent airline industry

Feature Article from Hemmings Motor News

"This whole picture looks to me as if it was something that somebody has got to put a lot of money behind to make an industry out of it. I don't know why the Ford Motor Company shouldn't do just that."

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And with those words, and the actions that followed, Henry Ford effectively created the modern commercial aviation industry. His Ford Motor Company built its 10 millionth car in June of 1924, and it was less than a year from then that the Stout Metal Airplane Company became the automaker's first aeronautical division. The high profile Tri-Motor airplanes and other advancements that followed would create a model for an entire industry.
In addition to being a patron of the arts, Edsel Ford was interested in powered flight, and in 1922, he became a director of the Detroit-based company founded by aeronautical engineer (and future creator of the innovative 1936 Stout Scarab proto-minivan) William B. Stout, who was working towards fully enclosed all-metal passenger airplanes. Edsel introduced his father to Stout's work, which set Henry's gears turning again. "This was extremely similar to the Model T situation," explains Tri-Motor historian and www.fordtrimotor.org webmaster Scott Lowe. "Henry saw the potential for a market, here commercial aviation. He looked around and saw no model or infrastructure, but he could picture it."
The Ford Tri-Motor airplanes, of which 200 were built (including prototypes and development models) between 1925 and 1933, were the culmination of Stout's engineering innovation and Mr. Ford's marketing genius. Highly distinctive with their strong, light, corrugated aluminum skins, and reliable due to the redundancy of using multiple engines, these planes were developed to catch people's attention and raise awareness and enthusiasm for the possibility of commercial flight. The Fords encouraged the Tri-Motor's development, and in addition to obtaining 35 patents covering its shock absorbers, tail wheels, brakes and wing lamps (which were shared with the industry, royalty-free), it would become the first line-assembled airplane. The Ford Aircraft Manufacturing Divison also patented a navigational radio range beam system, which allowed pilots to fly in low visibility conditions.
Another Ford Tri-Motor development that advanced airplane technology in the form of toe wheel landing brakes was the Ford Airport. Dedicated on January 15, 1925, this 260-acre site on Oakwood Boulevard (now the Detroit Proving Grounds) featured the first modern terminal and the first concrete runway, whose smooth surface made the previous stopping method of tail dragging to a stop--as done in fields--impractical.
The Ford Motor Company used Tri-Motors to fly company mail and auto parts between Dearborn and Chicago plants in early 1925, later adding routes to Buffalo and Cleveland. The U.S. government soon awarded Ford the first private enterprise domestic airmail flight contract, allowing the Ford Air Transport Service to carry U.S. mail between Detroit, Cleveland and Chicago, further proving the planes' reliability and the viability of air travel.
The economy of assembly line production with 400-450hp engines commonly sourced from Pratt & Whitney meant that they could be sold to commercial airlines like Trans World Airline for roughly $40,000 apiece. Using 110 MPH-averaging Ford Tri-Motors, mostly of the 5-AT series, TWA was the first to offer all-air transcontinental passenger service, and this trip could be made in 36 hours, with an overnight stop in Kansas City. By the 1930s, TWA had a fleet of 25 Ford Tri-Motor air ships.
The Great Depression hurt the Ford Motor Company on many levels, and Ford's Aircraft Manufacturing Division became a financial burden, so production of the Tri-Motor was ended in 1933. There are 16 Tri-Motors known to exist today, with only six believed air-worthy, one of which sold for $1.21 million at the 2009 Barrett-Jackson auction.
"The Tri-Motor couldn't adapt to the explosive success that Henry Ford created. Other aircraft firms like Douglas and Boeing designed planes from scratch and could adapt to changes in the new market," Scott says. "Henry Ford accelerated the aircraft market, and if we didn't have the Tri-Motor, perhaps we wouldn't have had the Douglas C-47 for the Normandy invasion. It was like someone starting a spaceship business today, and finding an inexpensive, safe way to put people in orbit."

This article originally appeared in the July, 2009 issue of Hemmings Motor News.